Dance With Me
by Keiras Girl
Summary: Juliet is already unhappy with her marriage to Peter but her entire world changes when someone gets distracted. After all, who can escape the allure of another woman? COMPLETE. [www.broken.r8.org]
1. Bringing On The Headache

**Broken, Actually**  
[Part 1: Dance With Me]

'Hmm...Juliet's been in the washroom for a bit of time now,' Peter thought to himself, wondering what could be keeping his new wife in the bathroom for so long. He paused outside of the bathroom door, debating whether or not to knock. Maybe it was the food they'd eaten, they'd ordered Chinese and the food had given him an agonizing headache.

"Jules, I'm gonna go lie down, I have a terrible headache,"  
  
No response. Peter didn't think too much of her silence, explaining to himself that Juliet had had a trying week and was collecting her thoughts with a relaxing bath or something along that line. He walked into the kitchen recalling memories of his and Juliet's wedding. Though it was the week before, it still felt like yesterday and he could remember vividly how stunning she had looked in her wedding dress. Peter smiled at the pictures of Juliet and him on the refrigerator as he made his way to the kitchen cabinets. His head was killing him as he looked through the cabinets trying to find Advil or Tylenol. Both were missing. Determined to find a pain killer, Peter searched the medicine cabinet more thoroughly this time, noticing that the large bottle of Alprazolam prescribed by physician to treat his insomnia was gone. 'Must have misplaced them', he thought wandering into the living room. He lay down on the couch and closed his eyes. The image of Juliet in her wedding dress was etched into his mind and he couldn't stop thinking about that day and the events leading up to it.

"Are you ready?" Juliet had asked him a couple of days before the wedding. He'd held her face and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "I've been ready since the day I met you, darling," he had told her. She had smiled, the beautiful smile that he loved. "I am going to live the rest of my life with the woman that I love, I couldn't be happier. Juliet, we're spending the rest of our lives together!" She'd smiled again.  
  
Was it his headache playing tricks on him or had he been too blind to see before that Juliet's smile was forced and that there was a look of uncertainty in her eyes? His head was pounding and he pushed the memory away from his mind and let himself fall asleep.  
  
Juliet awoke on the cold floor of the bathroom a couple of hours later feeling dizzy and disoriented. She groaned as she felt her dinner work its way back up her throat and crawled to the toilet.  
  
Peter awoke to strange sounds coming from the bathroom. He ran to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Juliet! Juliet are you alright?"  
"Yes," she replied coughing, "I'm fine."

He heard her throw up again and went to the kitchen to get the key for the door returning in a matter of minutes. He unlocked and went in to see her kneeling in front of the toilet and throwing up. There were open bottles of pills on the bathroom counter, Advil, Tylenol and Alprazolam.

"God damn it Jules! What have you done?! " He said picking up the nearly empty pill bottles and putting their caps on. "I'm calling the paramedics,"

"No!" Juliet protested as she used toilet paper to clean her mouth. "No, I'm fine...honestly...I threw everything up. I'm fine now." Peter eyed her suspiciously. She got up, flushed the toilet and left the bathroom. He turned and watched her leave.

"Bloody hell Juliet what the hell were you doing?!" He exclaimed. They were in the bedroom and Juliet was changing into her night clothes with her back to him.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly.

"You don't want to talk about it?" Peter questioned, clearly angry with her. "You downed three bottles of pills Juliet! What's wrong with you?" No reply. She went into their bedroom bathroom to wash her face and was about to close the door when Peter stopped her.

"No way in hell I'm going to let you alone in the bathroom with the door shut again," he told her. She just looked at him and proceeded to the sink. "That's suicide! Overdosing on pills! Are you trying to kill yourself, Jules? What's wrong with you?!" He shouted at her. Juliet turned off the sink and dried her face with a towel trying to block out Peter's voice as he continued to yell at her. "This is serious Jules, this is drug abuse! This is... this is..." Peter continued.

"Peter I know what I've done and I know the consequences! Let's just not talk about it now, I have a pounding headache and my stomach hurts, we'll discuss it tomorrow!" Everything that had been building up inside her exploded as she yelled at him. Juliet stormed out of the bathroom and Peter raced after her.

"Well you shouldn't have a headache from all those pain killers you took!" he yelled back at her, "Fine! We'll talk about it tomorrow."


	2. Natalie

_NOTE FROM WRITERS: The Natalie in this chapter is NOT Prime Minister David's Natalie but a different Natalie. (This character was inspired by Natalie Portman)._  
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"Downed an entire bottle of Advil and Alprazolam is what she did," Peter said in a hushed voice the next morning. He was still in bed and was talking on the phone to his best friend, Mark as he watched Juliet sleep. "....No, I don't know what's gotten into her. She's been different ever since the wedding but I assumed it was all of the excitement, you know?........She hasn't been anywhere but your place, did she say anything to you while she was there? Did you two have a fight? I know you two don't get along but--.........that's all you did? All you did was show her a video tape and she's this upset? I'd like to see that video tape Mark, would you mind bringing it over?.....Oh that's fine it doesn't matter, I'd just like to see what Juliet saw that troubled her........Thank you, Mark. See you then." He hung up and got out of bed carefully so he wouldn't wake Juliet. She looked so perfect as she slept, laying on her side facing him with a strand of her blonde hair strewn across her face.  
  
Peter got dressed and put some tea on. Mark was to arrive in a half an hour. When Mark did arrive he was jumpy and appeared nervous.

"Come in Mark," Peter said, letting Mark in. "Are you alright, you seem anxious?"   
"Anxious? No. Too much coffee this morning is all," Mark said, fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket.   
"Well here, mate. Pass the tape over," Peter said leading Mark to the couch. Mark handed the video tape to Peter and Peter put it in the VCR.   
"Oh... this is beautiful," Peter said as he watched footage from the wedding. "Just gorgeous. Doesn't she look gorgeous, Mark?"   
Peter's expression changed as the video progressed. Every shot was of Juliet All this time Peter had assumed that Mark didn't like Juliet. The tape proved just how wrong he had been. "You..." Peter started.   
"Good morning, Mark I didn't know you were stopping by." Juliet's voice came from behind them and both Mark and Peter turned around.   
"I..I'd better be going," Mark said taking the tape out of the VCR.  
"Yes...we'll talk about this later Mark," Peter said leading Mark to the door.   
"Talk about what later?" Juliet asked.   
"Thanks for coming over," Peter said. Mark left and Peter shut the door behind him. Then he turned to Juliet.   
"Good morning darling," he said to her.   
She was sitting on the couch now. She put her head into her hands.   
"You're ignoring _me_ now?" Peter asked sitting next to her.   
"No," she replied, her voice muffled by her hands.   
"Look at me, Jules." He put his hands on hers and pulled them away from her face. She was crying. "If something's wrong and you aren't happy, you need to tell me. Okay?"   
She didn't look at him. Hot tears began to fill her eyes again.   
"No...no, don't cry, tell me what's wrong. Is it Mark? And his video?" Peter said.   
"No. It's not Mark. It's not you, it's not anything I just..." Juliet began, "I need some air. I'm going to take a walk, I should be home around noon."   
"I don't know if I like the idea of you going out alone after what happened last night," Peter told her.   
"I wasn't myself last night, I'm alright now. And if I'm not back by noon you can send the police after me," she joked.   
Peter forced a smile. "Alright darling, I'll see you then," He said kissing her. She grabbed her jacket and left the house.

Not sure of where she intended to go, she set off walking. As she walked thoughts of Peter and Mark began to consume her and she walked faster as if trying to escape them. She was breathing quickly and felt the walls of her own mind closing in on her. Shutting her eyes tight, she inhaled deeply, held it for a couple of seconds and slowly exhaled. 'Get a grip Jules, get a grip...' she told herself. She'd stopped walking and was standing in front of a coffee shop. 'Sit down, get a cup of coffee, and you'll be okay,' she thought as she entered the coffee shop. She chose a table next to the window and took off her jacket. Juliet looked around at the coffee shop and its customers. It was a cozy place, not too big, decorated with black and white pictures of old coffee plantations. There was a middle-aged man in a red and grey plaid shirt at the table to her left reading a newspaper. Sitting at the table in front of Juliet was a woman Juliet assumed to be in her twenties wearing a baby blue sweater. She was reading a book and her face was partially covered by her slightly wavy chestnut brown hair. At the table next to the woman with the book was another woman holding a small baby in her arms. Juliet felt scared and somewhat claustrophobic imagining what it would be like having Peter's baby and living the rest of her life with him. Juliet's eyes drifted from the woman and with baby back to the woman in the blue sweater. She was looking at Juliet too but when she saw Juliet look at her she immediately looked down and glued her eyes to the pages of her book. Juliet looked away as well, resting her eyes on the cars driving by outside the coffee shop window. She began to zone out as she watched each car zip by but was shaken out of her daydream by someone's voice:  
  
"Excuse me." It was the woman in the baby blue sweater, her face fully visible now. She had warm brown eyes and a beautiful smile. Juliet had never seen anyone so beautiful.   
"Is anyone joining you?"   
"N-no," Juliet stuttered, startled by the woman's glowing appearance.   
"May I?" The woman asked politely. Juliet just stared at her. "...join you that is..." the woman continued, "Oh God, I fluffed that. Do you mind if I join you is what I mean."   
"No, I don't mind," Juliet replied. The woman smiled again. "It's just that I saw you sitting alone, and I was alone, and I'd really rather have someone to talk to over coffee than have no one to talk to and I thought maybe you'd rather have someone to talk to as well," she said, "Oh God, and now I'm already talking your ear off. Let me get my things."   
The woman turned with her back to Juliet and went back to her table to pick up her book, purse and coffee. Juliet watched her. The woman's sweater was tight fitting and so was the skirt she was wearing causing her curves to be heavily accentuated. She turned and walked back to Juliet's table putting down her things. KEEPING YOU A SECRET, the women's book read. The woman caught Juliet looking at the book and quickly put it down on the floor next to her purse.   
"I'm sorry," the woman began, "I've been so rude I've forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Natalie."   
"Oh, it's fine. I'm Juliet," Juliet said.   
"Juliet, nice to meet you,"   
"And you as well,"   
"Well, well," Natalie said catching a glimpse of Juliet's wedding ring. "That's quite a ring you've got there, you're married?"  
"Yes," Juliet answered, forcing a smile.   
"Just married last week,"   
"Congratulations! But you look so young, how old are you?"   
"Twenty. Yes, I suppose that is quite young," Juliet agreed.   
"I'm twenty-five myself and haven't found myself a significant other!" Juliet found that hard to believe. Natalie was so gorgeous, how could she be single?   
"What?" Juliet exclaimed, "That's absurd, men should be hanging all over you!" Immediately realizing what she had just said, Juliet corrected herself: "I mean, you're a very lovely lady, I'm sorry that came out kind of forward,"   
"It's alright," Natalie explained, "It sounds a lot more sincere coming from a woman. All men care about is appearance. To them women are just objects, play toys almost."  
  
Juliet and Natalie talked and laughed together for a while and Juliet was feeling really comfortable with her. Natalie was extremely friendly and she knew exactly how to make Juliet laugh. Every problem that had been bothering her for the last few days slipped her mind as she talked to Natalie. Something about her was comforting, maybe it was her eyes, maybe it was the way she talked or maybe it was everything about her.  
  
"Oh man, it's nearly noon, I have to get home or Peter will have a search party out looking for me," Juliet said catching sight of her watch.   
"Your husband?" Natalie presumed.   
Juliet hesitated before answering. "Yes," she said finally.  
"Well you wouldn't want to keep him waiting," Natalie said.   
  
They stood up and left the coffee shop together agreeing to have coffee together the next day at the same time they did this time.   
  
"How did you get here?" Natalie asked.   
"I walked."  
"Well let me give you a ride home then,"   
"Oh, no it's fine it's only a couple of blocks,"   
"No it's my pleasure, my cars around back,"


	3. Do I Know You?

Juliet left Natalie's car, a black jaguar beaming and feeling much better than she did when she'd left the flat that morning and her excellent mood was obvious as she entered her flat.  
  
"Peter!" she exclaimed, shocked to see him sitting on the couch waiting for her.  
"Thank God you made it home alright, I was beginning to worry," Peter told her.  
"Why?" she asked, sitting next to him now. She kissed him. "Ooh..." she said slowly once they had released. She had seen the clock behind him and it read 12:30. "It's only half past twelve,"  
"I know," Peter said, his hands on slowly massaging her hips, "But I can't help worrying about you Jules, after how you were acting this morning and last night...I'm worried about you."  
"Well," Juliet began as she put her arms around his neck, "Don't be," she gave him a quick kiss. "I'm fine now and there is no need for you to worry. Okay?" He didn't answer her. "Come on..." she whined, "Peter, please just trust me," He looked into her eyes. She did seem happier now, nothing like how she had been before.  
"Okay," Peter said finally. Juliet smiled at him.  
"Good," She pushed him on to the couch so that he was lying on his back and she was on top of him and kissed him deeply.   
"Wow," Peter said taken aback by Juliet's kiss. "I don't recall you ever kissing me like that before,"   
"See? I am better now. You've no reason not to trust me,"   
Peter was certain, Juliet was herself now. He wondered what could have possibly put her in such wonderful form in the three hours she was out walking that morning. It crossed his mind that Juliet could have met another man or worse, could have been out with Mark. But Mark was his best friend and they'd had a telephone conversation a few hours ago about the situation with Juliet.  
  
"I promise you Peter, I will be no more than a friend to Juliet," Mark had assured him.  
"Alright mate, I'm trusting you," Peter had replied.  
"Our friendship is far too important to me and I would never do anything to put it in jeopardy," Mark had said.  
  
But what if Mark had put their friendship in jeopardy? What if he found Juliet that irresistible?  
  
Juliet's hands were now undoing Peter's belt buckle and his hands were still on her waist. He stopped kissing her and she frowned at him.  
  
"What is it?" she asked.  
"Jules?"  
"Yes?"  
"Who were you with this morning? I heard a car when you came home, someone dropped you off," Juliet thought quickly, for some reason not wanting to let Peter know about her new friend.  
"It was a girlfriend," Juliet told him. "Mia," she finished.  
"Mia?"  
"Yes, you know. Mark's friend from the art gallery,"  
"But you've never been outwardly friendly with Mia before,"  
"I know, but we saw each other at the coffee shop on Third Street and decided to have coffee together,"  
"Oh..." Peter said slowly, not buying her story.  
  
The next day Juliet and Natalie met at the coffee shop again and had an even better time together than they'd had the day before. Juliet found it odd the Natalie hid the book she was reading from her but didn't think much of it.  
  
Natalie and Juliet had been meeting at the coffee shop for a week straight now and as time went on Peter became more suspicious. Juliet's moods were always better after she'd returned from the coffee shop and Peter wanted to know why. Surely Mark's friend Mia whom Juliet had never particularly gotten along with couldn't be the one making Juliet so happy. Peter was sure it wasn't Mia Juliet was meeting after a phone conversation with Mark.  
  
"Mia? Mia's been out of town for a month now, Harry's sent her on a business trip/vacation to Australia. I guess he's trying to get rid of temptation," Mark said referring to Harry and Mia's forbidden relationship.  
"Temptation," Peter repeated, deep in thought.  
"Yes, you know that Harry's married. I guess Mia's been a distraction to him lately,"  
"A distraction..?"  
"Yes..." Mark said slowly, "why? What are you thinking?"  
"Nothing, nothing it's just that Jules has been spending an awful lot of time at the coffee shop and it may be..distracting her, from our marriage,"  
"You mean you think she's met another man?"  
"I—yes. Yes, that's exactly what I think. The way she acts, the way she's always so happy when he drops her off...I...I think she has met another man," The sadness in Peters voice was evident and Mark, who had always envied Peter, now felt sorry for him.  
"Oh cheer up mate, you're probably just thinking of the worse, you're jumping to conclusions."  
"Mark, why else would she lie to me about who she's been seeing? She obviously doesn't want me to know who's been making her so happy."  
"Would it make you feel better...if...I found out for you who she's been seeing?" Mark asked.  
"What do you mean?"  
"There's a bookstore on third across from the coffee shop, I could watch from there and see who she's been meeting,"  
"You mean spy on her?"  
"It's the only way you'll be able to know who it is," Peter considered the possibility. He hated to invade his wife's privacy but he needed to know whether or not she was cheating on him.  
"Well?" Mark asked, waiting for Peter's answer.  
"Okay. Alright, do it, she leaves around ten to nine and stays until noon," Peter told him.  
"Alright, I'll go tomorrow,"  
"Okay, well, thank you mate, goodbye then,"  
"Goodbye Peter," He hung up the phone, feeling that what he was doing wasn't entirely right. Would Juliet ever invade his privacy?  
  
"Peter?" Juliet's voice came from the front room. He came from the bedroom and greeted her with a kiss. He couldn't help but feel guilty for not trusting her.  
"I love you," he said hugging for a long time.  
"Oh," she said, looking very puzzled. "What's wrong?..Has something happened?"  
"Does something have to happen for a man to tell his wife that he loves her?"  
"No, I don't guess so," Juliet replied, still wondering what had happened. "I love you too," she said when they'd released. He held her face and kissed her. She didn't know why, but thoughts of Natalie kept entering her mind while she was kissing him. She lost track of things and the feel of Peter's rough face against her was replaced with the feel of the softness of someone else's skin, but whose? Juliet couldn't put her finger on whose skin she felt against hers now, all she knew was that the feeling was bliss and it was better than anything she'd ever felt before. Suddenly it came to her; it was Natalie's face she felt against hers. She pulled away quickly, horrified.  
"What is it Juliet?" Peter asked. Juliet was breathing quickly and shaking her head still shocked and disgusted.

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The next morning Peter and Mark's plan worked perfectly. Mark was across the street at the bookstore while Juliet and Natalie met at the coffee shop. Mark, glad he didn't have to be the bearer of bad news, called Peter from his cell.  
"Peter! I see her! I see Juliet and she's with a woman," Mark exclaimed.  
"Oh thank God!" Peter said letting out a sigh of relief. "But I wonder why Jules didn't want me to know about this woman..."  
"Well," Mark said, moving to a different place in the bookstore to get a better look at Natalie, "I can't see much of her now but from here she looks quite fit, maybe Juliet thought you might think so too,"  
"Really? I--"  
"Oh wait wait, they're getting up, I'll be able to see her better now..." Mark moved closer to the window of the bookstore. "Wow...she looks like someone I've seen before, I remember her from somewhere...but I remember where..." Mark said deep in thought.  
"The gallery maybe?" Peter suggested.  
"Yes! That's it! The gallery...if only I could see her. Oh I wish I could remember who she was, if I could see her a little bit closer..."  
"Mark..." Peter said warningly, "don't let Juliet see you..."  
"That's it! I'll casually bump into her and she'll introduce me to her friend!"  
"What? No!" Peter exclaimed.  
"Relax, relax. Juliet won't suspect a thing, I'll leave the phone on and you'll be able to hear our entire conversation. Alright?"  
"Okay..." Peter said reluctantly.  
"Alright mate, I'm crossing the street now, you're going into my pocket," Mark said. He put his cell phone into the pocket of his jacket and waved to Juliet.  
"Juliet!" he said once he was across the street. Juliet and Natalie were about to walk around to the back of the coffee shop to Natalie's car.  
"Mark!" Juliet said turning and giving him a hug.  
"How have you been?" she asked.  
"Been great actually, and yourself?"  
"Been great as well," Juliet replied.  
"Who's your friend?" Mark asked.  
"Natalie," Juliet said introducing Natalie to Mark. "Natalie, this is Mark, Peter's best friend.  
Natalie smiled politely and shook Mark's hand.  
"Have I seen you somewhere?" Natalie asked.  
"You might have, he works at the art gallery a couple of blocks away," Juliet said. Then something inside Mark clicked and he remembered who Natalie was and Natalie remembered who he was.  
"Juliet, I've got somewhere to be today we really must be going," Natalie said wanting to get away from Mark.  
"Oh..alright, nice seeing you Mark," Juliet said. Natalie had already begun walking to the parking lot.  
"You too," Mark said. He walked back across the street and when he was sure Juliet and Natalie wouldn't see or hear him he picked up the phone.  
"Peter? You there? Did you get all of that?" Mark asked.  
"Yes, I got it all. So do you remember who she is?"  
"Yes..." Mark said not knowing how to tell Peter.

* * *

_NOTE FORM WRITIERS: Comments are greatly appreciated!_


	4. Almost

* * *

"She's a _lesbian_," Mark said finally.  
"A what?" Peter asked wondering if he'd heard Mark correctly.  
"A lesbian! She came into the gallery the month we were doing the showcase on the female body!"  
"Oh please Mark, just because she went in to look at a showcase featuring naked women does not mean she's a lesbian!"  
"No that's not all. I saw her with her girlfriend. I knew they looked a little too friendly in the gallery but when they left I saw them kissing and..._feeling each other_,"  
"Feeling each other?"  
"Yes! _Feeling_ each other!"  
"Well do you think Juliet knows?"  
"Well of course she knows. That's why she didn't want you to know! I'm so sorry Peter,"  
"Don't jump to conclusions..." Peter began trying to comfort himself, "Juliet might not know. I'll ask her about it,"  
"Alright, if you say so..."  
"What is it now? Do you think Juliet is... with Natalie?"  
"No...no of course not, well, I don't know!"  
"Well I can almost assure you Juliet isn't, and I'll ask if she knows later,"  
"Ask me if I know what?" Peter jumped and spun around to see her standing in the bedroom doorway.  
"Jules, you-you keep popping up behind me, don't scare me like that," Peter said stuttering.  
"I'm sorry," she said.  
"I'll call you back Mark, alright?" Once he hung up with Mark Juliet asked him, "What were you going to ask me if I knew?"  
"I uh...was talking to Mark," Peter began.  
"Oh..." Juliet was scared Peter might know about Natalie. She didn't want him to know about her and now she knew why. She hadn't known it before but the more she saw Natalie the more she liked her and she was beginning to realize and come to terms with the growing crush she had on Natalie.  
"Mark says ran into you and your friend there today,"  
"He did."  
"You and your friend, Natalie is it? It is Natalie right?"  
"Yes.."  
"This is who you've been spending so much time with?"  
"What are you getting at?"  
"Nothing, I was just wondering if you knew..." Peter began.  
"Yes..?"  
"If you knew that she was a lesbian." Peter finally blurted out. Juliet's eyes got big. "A lesbian?! Natalie most certainly is not! Who told you that?"  
"Mark told me—"  
"Oh did he? Mark told you? And what is Mark? A little bird that flies around spying on people? Is that why he was at the bookstore staring at me this morning? I'd hate to think you put him up to this because I'd think that you'd respect my privacy!" Juliet said getting angry. She was angry with Mark and getting into her business and she was angry with Peter for believing what Mark had said but most of all she was angry at herself for developing a crush on Natalie.  
"I'm sorry darling, but you were acting so strange about your meetings at the coffee shop and when you lied and said you were meeting Mia I got suspicious, I thought you were meeting another man," Peter said. Juliet was touched by his sincerity and felt horrible for yelling at him. He had a right to be suspicious.  
"Jules?" he asked timidly. She didn't answer but her eyes told him to continue.  
"Are you...a lesbian? Do you love her?"  
"Do I what?! No! No peter I am not a lesbian why would I have married you if I was a lesbian? I don't love Natalie I love you Peter. I love you!" Juliet exclaimed but she found the words she has saying hard to believe herself. She felt a lump begin to rise in her through and chocked down tears. Peter approached her and hugged her. She cried into his shoulder.  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I should have trusted you and I'm sorry I didn't," She still continued to cry. Peter let go of her and held her face, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.  
"Shh...don't cry Jules it's okay,"  
"I'm not Peter," she sobbed, "I'm not a lesbian and Natalie isn't either we're just friends, honestly. Peter saw us! Peter saw us and all we did was talk!"  
"I know, I know, I believe you,"  
"Would you feel better if I stopped meeting Natalie at the coffee shop every day?" Juliet asked.  
"No. Don't stop seeing Natalie, it's good for you I think, to have another woman to talk to," Peter told her hating what he was saying. He didn't want her to see Natalie he wanted Juliet to confide in him, not Natalie. He hugged her again realizing everything now. He knew Juliet better than she knew herself and he knew what was going on and what to do about it.  
  
In bed that night Juliet lay in Peter's arms as he slowly ran his fingers through her hair. Juliet couldn't stop thinking about what Peter had said. 'Natalie is not a lesbian, she's not, she's not, how could she be?' she told herself repeatedly. The more she told herself the more she began to consider the possibility that Natalie might be and then her thoughts really ran wild with fantasies about how amazing it would be if Natalie was interested in her. As she fell asleep all she could think of while she was laying with Peter was laying with Natalie.  
  
-----------------  
  
"Wow...." Juliet breathed. She and Natalie had decided to take a walk together because Natalie had to return some things to a shoe store. Juliet was staring into the window of a jewelry store at a beautiful diamond-incrusted silver bracelet.  
"It's breathtakingly gorgeous. Imagine if I could afford something like that," Juliet said longingly.  
"Maybe your husband will get it for you," Natalie suggested.  
"Peter? No, I doubt we have the money for that," Juliet said sadly. Natalie looked at the bracelet. Juliet it was right, it was gorgeous.  
"Why not? It's a beautiful bracelet. Beautiful people deserve beautiful things. I'm sure Peter knows that." Juliet was taken aback by Natalie's comment but forced herself not to get too excited about it. To her, it was unlikely that Natalie could possibly be interested in her.  
"No..." Juliet sighed listlessly, "I'll never own anything like that,"  
"Well then, there's no use in getting your heart set on something you can't have, is there?" For a second Juliet thought Natalie could read her mind. Was this a sign? Natalie was right; it was no use having a crush on Natalie because Juliet knew she could never have her. She sighed and began walking away from the jewelry store. Natalie gave the bracelet one last glance before following Juliet.  
"It's right here," Natalie said showing Juliet where the shoe store was.  
"There's a fancy Christmas ball going on at the Hilton in conjunction with the office I work at and I've got a dress but I can't seem to find the proper shoes," Natalie explained. "These," she said pulling a shoebox out of her plastic bag and placing it on the clerk's counter, "Are way too small." Juliet looked around the shoe store. "What color is your dress?" she asked. "It's white," Natalie told her as the handed the clerk her receipt. "How about these," Juliet suggested showing Natalie a pair of beautiful white high-healed shoes. "Ooh... those are lovely," Natalie said walking over to where Juliet was. "I'll take these!" Natalie said to the clerk. After buying the shoes Juliet and Natalie walked back to Natalie's car.  
  
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A couple of days later after Juliet had returned from the coffee shop she and Peter watched a movie together. Juliet lay in his arms once again and once again began to think about Natalie. Everything about Natalie amazed Juliet and she'd never met anyone so perfect. Natalie was the definition of perfection. She was flawless, as flawless as the bracelet she had seen in the jewelry store the other day. As Juliet began to think about the bracelet Natalie's words entered her mind: 'There's no use in getting your heart set on something you can't have, is there?' Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll answer it," Juliet volunteered. She got up and opened the door. There was a delivery man holding a small box.  
"Is there a Juliet here?" he asked.  
"Yes, I'm Juliet," she replied.  
"Sign here, if you will," he said holding out a clip board and pen. Juliet complied. He handed her the box as she handed him the clip board and pen back.  
"Good day, Miss," he said as he left.  
"What is it darling?" Peter asked.  
"I don't know," Juliet said sitting down on the couch again and removing the packing tape from the box. When she had removed the brown paper and tape she was left with a small white box with silver writing on it. "To my dearest Juliet, Merry Christmas." it read. Juliet smiled at Peter but Peter looked befuddled. He watched as she opened the box and pulled out its contents.  
"Oooh God!" Juliet exclaimed. It was the bracelet. She put it around her wrist and gave Peter a hug. "Thank you, Peter!"  
"Jules," he began, "I didn't buy that," Juliet looked confused. "You didn't? Well then who did?" She asked.  
"I don't know, you tell me,"  
"I don't know, that's why I assumed you had,"  
"I'm going to call Mark..." Peter told her. He got up and went into the kitchen to use the phone. Juliet watched him get up, worried that this might be the end of Mark and Peter's friendship and she hated to come between them.  
"Hello Mark, how are you?.....Good, good. I thought I told you not to make any moves on Juliet..." Then it clicked. Maybe Natalie was a lesbian and maybe she was interested in Juliet. Too many thoughts went through Juliet's head as she realized that it had to be Natalie who bought her the bracelet. Juliet jumped up from the couch and grabbed the telephone from her husband.  
"Mark? I'm so sorry, Peter's been mistaken. We'll talk to you later alright?" Juliet said to Mark. She hung up the phone.  
"Juliet.." Peter said waiting for her to explain.  
"It wasn't Mark it was Natalie," Juliet said. Peter was quiet. Without a word Juliet grabbed her jacket and left the flat. She wasn't sure what to think now about Natalie now. Thick grey clouds began to appear as Juliet got into her car and drove to Natalie's flat in a fury. She felt confused, flustered, and tense but most of all, scared. She was afraid of herself and what she was becoming. Thoughts came to her, troubling her. It began to rain outside but Juliet didn't put on her windshield wipers thinking that maybe if she was lucky enough she wouldn't be able to see and she'd crash and end everything right then and there. She didn't know what she wanted and she didn't know why Natalie had gotten her the bracelet or how her feelings for Natalie came about in the first place. She didn't know how she could love Natalie and love Peter at the same time. Her vision became blurry as tears began to fill her eyes. Wiping them, she convinced herself to get a grip so that she wouldn't be crying when she confronted Natalie. But she didn't know how to talk to her or what to say to her. It was raining hard by the time she pulled up in front of Natalie's flat. She sat in the car for a moment not sure if she was going to get our or not but eventually she gathered her confidence and got out. She stood in front of Natalie's flat just staring at it. She walked towards the door but stopped and walked back. 'Jules what are you doing? She doesn't want to see you like this,' she thought. 'But she bought you the bracelet why wouldn't she want to see you?' 'You fucking lesbian you should go home to your husband where you belong and stop chasing after a woman' 'Just go talk to her. She'll understand if you just talk to her,' 'Don't talk to her! Get as far away from her as you can before you turn into a fucking lesbian! A dyke! You're a lesbian and you know it!' Juliet stood upon Natalie's doorway now, crying, soaking wet and shivering as rain poured down on her. She hadn't decided whether or not to knock when Natalie opened the door.  
"Juliet?" she said bewildered.  
"Oh God, I should go," Juliet said.  
"Rubbish Jules." Natalie told her, taking her arm. "Come in and get dried off. I've just put some tea on the stove, it'll warm you up."  
"No, I.. really should just leave," Juliet protested.  
"I'm not letting you leave until you come inside and get dried off," Natalie told her giving her that breathtaking smile that put Juliet in a haze. Natalie led her inside and gave her an oversized t-shirt to change into. Juliet went into the washroom to change and when she came back Natalie handed her a cup of tea. Then she and Natalie settled down on Natalie's couch.  
"Juliet, what's wrong?" Natalie asked in a concerned tone.  
"What's wrong?!" Juliet practically shouted. "You know what's wrong, Natalie!"  
"You bought me that stupid bracelet is what's wrong!" Juliet exclaimed. You've ruined my marriage! Was that your intention all along, to cause trouble for me and my husband? You MADE me have feelings for you and I..." Juliet stopped now and looked down and began to cry again.  
"Shh..." Natalie said giving Juliet a warm hug. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about all of this, I really am, I didn't mean for that to happen," When they released their faces were only inches away from each other as they stared into each others eyes. They were being drawn to each other and Juliet was aching to feel Natalie's lips touch hers. Coming to her senses, Juliet pulled away.  
"I can't do this," she said. She got up and headed towards the door.  
"I'll give you your clothes tomorrow at the coffee shop," Natalie told her, "We're still on, right?"  
"Of course," Juliet said. Her voice was weak as if all the energy had be drained from her.  
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Natalie said closing the door behind Juliet when she left.  
  
When Juliet got home Peter was waiting for her. They didn't speak; they just looked at each other. Juliet hugged him deeply inhaling his scent. She did love him but it was a brotherly love now and she hated to hurt him.  
"Peter, I want you to know, no matter what happens..." she began.  
"I know," Peter said to her. "I love you too," 

* * *

_FROM THE WRITER: Hopefully you've caught on to what's happening and now's your chance to decide whether or not you want to keep reading. We really hope you want to continue reading but we encourage homophobic people to stop reading now. _


	5. Jump In

At the coffee shop the next day Natalie and Juliet were quiet and avoided each other's eyes. After ten minutes of silence between them, Natalie spoke up.  
"Today's Friday," she began, "There's a club on Second Avenue that I usually go to on Friday nights. Would you be interested in coming with me tonight?"  
"I..." Juliet started "...would love to," Natalie smiled nervously.  
"But do you think Peter will mind?" she asked uneasily.  
"No, Peter won't mind, I'll tell him it'll be like a girls' night out,"  
"Great. So I'll pick you up tonight around nine. Is that alright?"  
"Oh yes, that's fine,"  
  
------------------------  
  
"Oh God," Juliet groaned as she looked at herself in the full sized mirror and she and Peter's bedroom. "This skirt makes me legs look horrible!"  
"It looks fine, Jules. You look great," Peter told her. He was sitting on their bed. This was the third outfit Juliet had tried on. She wanted to look perfect for Natalie in the club.  
"No..." Juliet sighed, "I don't like this. I'm going to try it with jeans,"  
"But you've already tried it with jeans,"  
"I know," Juliet said turning around and looking at her backside, "but I'd just like to try it once more,"  
"Okay but it's a ten to nine,"  
"Ohh no," Juliet rushed to the washroom and changed into a pair of low cut jeans.  
"How's this? And be honest," she said one she had emerged from the washroom.  
"It's perfect, you look amazing," She smiled. "Thank you, Peter," she said giving him a kiss. Then there was a knock at the front door. Juliet rushed to answer it and Peter slowly followed. He was curious to see what the woman who had stolen his wife from him looked like. Peter stood in the doorway of the front room as Juliet greeted Natalie. From what Peter could see of Natalie, she was beautiful. She was the kind of woman with natural beauty. An alluring and radiant beauty that was impossible for anyone to resist. If Peter was to choose any woman for Juliet, it would be Natalie.  
"Bye, Peter!" Juliet called as she stepped out the door. "I'll be home around 2 AM,"  
"Alright," Peter said sadly, "Have a good time," It upset him to watch Juliet leave with Natalie but he'd seen how miserable and unhappy she'd been before she'd met Natalie and decided that Juliet's happiness was his number one priority, no matter how much it hurt him. 


	6. Let Go

At the club Juliet kept to herself sipping a drink as Natalie danced. Natalie came up to Juliet and took her hand pulling her up.  
"Come on!" she yelled over the loud music. Juliet finally agreed and joined Natalie on the dance floor. They had a wonderful time dancing together, grinding on each other. Juliet loved the chills she got when Natalie's chest brushed up against hers. As Juliet listened closer to the lyrics of the song playing she felt they were speaking to her;   
_So let go   
And jump in   
_Maybe it was the drinks she'd had earlier.   
_Whatcha waiting for?   
It's alright_   
_Because there's beauty in the breakdown_   
Juliet was feeling like she had the night she'd driven to Natalie's flat when they were on the cough. She wanted Natalie badly now. She needed her.   
_So let go   
And just get in   
Oh it's so amazing here_  
"We're gonna play a slow jam for all the lovers out there," Juliet heard the DJ say. The next song had come on now. She and Natalie had stopped dancing. As everyone around them paired up and began slow dancing, Natalie and Juliet stood still staring at each other.  
"Well come on now," Natalie said at last. "Dance with me," She stepped closer to Juliet and put her arms around Juliet's waist and Juliet put her arms around Natalie's neck.   
_Some people want it all   
But I don't want nothin at all   
If it aint you baby   
If I aint got you baby_  
Juliet felt more relaxed as the song progressed. Natalie brought her hand up the side Juliet's body stopping at her neck, and slowly ran her fingers through Juliet's hair. A wave of pleasure came over Juliet and every part of her body became extremely sensitive.   
_Some people want diamond rings   
And some just want everything   
But everything means nothing   
If I ain't got you   
_The two looked into each other's eyes now and Natalie brought her hand behind Juliet's neck. Juliet looked at her, waiting to see what she was going to do. Natalie held Juliet's face now and kissed her. Warmth spread through Juliet's body as she felt Natalie's tongue gently part her lips. When the song ended they didn't stop, neither of them wanted to let go of each other. This was a feeling Juliet had never experienced before and she wanted it to last forever but Natalie released her.  
"Why did you stop?" Juliet asked, breathing quickly.  
"We can't stay here," Natalie told her. It was pouring down rain when Juliet and Natalie left the club and went to Natalie's car. They couldn't resist each other and Natalie shoved Juliet against the side of the car kissing her again as both of them became soaked by the rain. They kissed more feverishly now and Juliet turned so that Natalie's back was against the car now. She pulled off Natalie's soaked blouse revealing her drenched white undershirt. Natalie pulled away with a playful grin. She laughed a little when Juliet gasped at the sight of Natalie's now transparent undershirt.  
"Be patient," Natalie said mischievously getting into the car. Juliet shook herself out of the trance she'd been in and got into the car too. When they got to Natalie's flat and had shut the door Natalie smiled again and pushed Juliet up against the wall and kissed her.  
"Mmm," Juliet gasped again, Natalie had caught her off guard. Natalie's hands wandered all over Juliet's body now as she slowly massaged her tongue with Juliet's. Natalie's hands found the bottom of Juliet's top and slid underneath it. She caressed Juliet's sides and then moved her hands up onto her chest. Not knowing what else to do, Juliet did the same to Natalie, gently caressing her chest just as Natalie was doing hers. Her skin was so soft and warm and Juliet wanted to touch more of it. It became easier for her if she stopped thinking about what she was doing and just let things happen naturally. Once Juliet had let go completely, they did. She found herself reaching around to Natalie's back and undoing her bra. Natalie stopped kissing her then.  
"Not yet," she said seductively. She brought Juliet to her bedroom and told her to lie down on the bed. Juliet obeyed and lay on her back. Natalie just stared at her, taking all of her in. Then she got onto the bed on top of her and kissed her more, taking off her shirt now.  
"Oh God," Juliet breathed as Natalie began to kiss her neck. Juliet's breathing sped up when Natalie slipped her hand down Juliet's jeans and began to rub her. Natalie had now taken off Juliet's bra and was softly sucking on one of Juliet's breast and cupped the other. Juliet was writhing on the bed in pleasure. Natalie was showing Juliet the best time of her life and it felt heavenly. Natalie licked down to Juliet's stomach and then began to remove Juliet's jeans. Once they were off, she stroked the insides of Juliet's thighs and brought her mouth closer to Juliet's body and kissed her through her panties. Juliet flinched at first but then loosened up. She pushed her hips closer to Natalie's face but Natalie backed away. After a few minutes of teasing that felt like torture and pleasure at the same time, Natalie pulled Juliet's panties off and used her tongue to give Juliet several orgasms before Juliet returned the favor. That night was one of the most incredible experiences Juliet had ever had. She and Natalie fell asleep together; their bodies so close, feeling relieved now that they had finally done but they'd wanted to do since the day they met.


	7. Secret's Out

Juliet woke up next to Natalie the next morning. Juliet stared at her as she slept. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. It took Juliet a moment to fully come to her senses and remember what she and Natalie had done the night before. When she'd realized it, she was terrified. She got out of the bed trying not to wake Natalie and put her clothes back on. 'Oh God what I have I done,' Juliet thought as she searched for her shirt. She found it on the other side of the bed and as she stood up after bending over to get it she caught sight of the clock on the nightstand. 4:30 AM. She put her shirt on and when she lowered her arms she saw the bracelet on her wrist. 'Oh no..No...' she thought as she worked at the bracelet's clasp to remove it. It was stuck and wouldn't budge so she decided to go home and try to get it off there. She didn't have her car so she walked to the main street and caught a cab. When she got into her flat Peter was still asleep. She quietly shut and locked the door and went to the bedroom where she took off her clothes and lay in bed with Peter. She closed her eyes but couldn't fall asleep. The bracelet felt tighter and she felt agitated with it around her wrist. She tried once more to take it off but it wouldn't come free. She gave up and let herself fall asleep. When she awoke Peter was gone and it was noon. She got out of bed to get something to eat and found Peter in the living room.  
"Good afternoon. You must have had an exciting night last night," Peter said.  
"Y-yes," Juliet said uneasily, going into the kitchen to find something to eat.  
"No coffee with Natalie this morning?" Peter's voice came from the other room.  
"No...no coffee, Natalie's feeling ill," Juliet told him, looking into the refrigerator. Nothing. She shut it and went back into the living room.  
"Well that's a shame. Hopefully she'll feel better soon," Juliet frowned, wondering why Peter was acting like he was fine with Natalie.  
"I'm really tired, I think I'll lay down a bit more," Juliet told him. She turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, Peter?"  
"Yes?"  
"Will you help me take this off?" She said walking towards him and holding out her wrist.  
"Help you take your bracelet off?"  
"Yes, it gets rather uncomfortable after a while,"  
"Are you sure? It's beautiful and you seemed to be so fond of it,"  
"Peter," Juliet, slightly irritated. "Just please...take it off," Their eyes met and she looked away. He held her wrist and took the bracelet off with no trouble at all and Juliet wondered why it was so hard for her and so easy for him. 'He's stronger than I am,' she told herself, 'He'd never be unfaithful to me like I am being to him, because he's stronger than that.' She turned as tears began to fill her eyes.  
"Are you alright?" Peter asked.  
"Just tired is all,"  
  
--------------------------------   
  
Natalie sat alone at the coffee shop. She stared off into nowhere as she slowly stirred her coffee. She knew Juliet wasn't coming and regretted coming onto her the night before. 'Now you've done it,' she thought, 'you've scared her, and now she wants nothing to do with you.' Finally coming to terms with never being able to see Juliet again, Natalie got up and left. All she could think about was Juliet and how incredible she was. Natalie had always thought she was beautiful and had often fantasized about what making love to her would be like but Juliet was far more incredible than Natalie had expected. Lost in thoughts of Juliet, Natalie found herself walking down the street in no direction, not paying attention to where she was going or what was going on around her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a man's voice;  
"Natalie, it's great to see you..." It was Mark. He was standing outside of the art gallery.  
"Um, Hello, uh..." Natalie began.  
"Mark," Mark said.  
"Hello, Mark."  
"Come into the gallery and have tea with me, will you?"  
"I really should be getting home,"  
"No, I insist. I'd like to talk to you about something,"  
"Well, let's just...talk about it right now and make it fast, I don't have much time,"  
"At least come inside," Natalie sighed. "Only for a moment," Mark led her into the gallery and they stood just inside the doorway. Mark faced her, her back to a corner and made sure she couldn't leave even if she wanted to.  
"You and Juliet are awfully close," he began. Natalie was silent. "She's beautiful isn't she?"  
"Okay, I have to go," she said trying to get past him.  
"Not yet," Mark said. "Not until you promise me you'll stay away from Juliet. Just leave her alone. Stop trying to corrupt her with your...lesbianism. It's disgusting and she's not like that! Stay away from her. I know it was your plan all along to try and confuse her. That's why you bought her the bracelet, isn't it!"  
"No! No!" Natalie exclaimed feeling her stomach drop and a lump rise in her throat. "No I didn't want to corrupt her or confuse her or anything like that!" She fought tears now. Mark had struck a nerve and a sensitive subject. "I only wanted to take her to the Christmas Ball, nothing else. Nothing else I only wanted to be her friend!" Natalie cried now. "A ball? Is that where you planned to seduce her? She's gorgeous, yes, I agree but I would never," Mark began, taking one step closer to Natalie, "force her," he took another stop closer, pushing her into the corner, "to cheat on her husband." Mark backed off now and Natalie pushed him away and ran out of the gallery. Mark watched her leave and pulled out his cell phone.  
"Peter, I just ran into Natalie," Mark said, walking into the gallery.  
"You did? But Jules said she was sick,"  
"She didn't seem sick to me, but I've got to let you know about something. Natalie wanted to invite Juliet to some type of Christmas Ball. Make sure Juliet doesn't go,"  
"If Juliet wants to go to a Christmas Ball with Natalie, there's nothing I can do to keep her from doing so,"  
"You mean you'd let her be corrupted by a lesbian?"  
"Mark," Peter sighed. He figured that it was worthless to try to explain his logic to Mark. Mark had always been a bit homophobic and a bit immature when it came to issues like these. There was silence between them now.  
"Thank you," Peter said at last, "for letting me know," Peter hung up the phone and went into the bedroom where Juliet was sleeping. Thinking about the situation, he came to the conclusion that if she preferred the company and affection of a woman over that of a man, he had to accept it. He spotted a plastic bag in the corner of the room and went to investigate its contents. The plastic made noise when he moved it. Peter looked at Juliet to see if she'd been disturbed. She sighed and rolled over. He looked into the bag: Juliet's clothes and a book. He took the book out of the bag and read its cover: KEEPING YOU A SECRET. He flipped to the inside cover to read a summary of the book. "Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peterson is one young woman's coming out and what that means in her life. When the new girl, CeCe, an out lesbian, comes to her school, Holland is intrigued. She finds herself attracted to CeCe, but none of her friends understand, especially her boyfriend." Peter's eyes widened when he read it. He wondered why Juliet would be reading a book like this and if it had any parallels to what was going on with her and Natalie. Surely Juliet wasn't keeping her affections for Natalie a secret because she feared Peter wouldn't understand.  
"Peter?" Juliet asked, waking up.  
"Jules," Peter said, startled, "did you sleep well?"  
"Yes, I did," Juliet replied.  
"Good...good..." Peter said before gathering his strength to ask her about the book. "Juliet," he started. "What is this?" He held up the book.  
  
"I don't know. It's a book I guess," Juliet said truthfully.  
"Jules, you can tell me," Peter said.  
"No, honestly, I don't know what it is."  
"'Keeping You A Secret', is what it's called."  
"Ooh..." Juliet said slowly, immediately recognizing it as Natalie's. Natalie must have accidentally slipped it into Juliet's bag with her clothes.  
"Still don't know what it is? 'When the new girl, CeCe, an out lesbian, comes to her school, Holland is intrigued. She finds herself attracted to CeCe'" Peter read out loud. "It's a book about lesbians,"  
"I-I gathered that," Juliet said breathlessly. "It's not mine Peter, It's--"  
"Natalie's." Peter finished.  
"Oh my God..." Juliet said looking down. She'd spent the entire morning convincing herself that what had happened with Natalie the night before was done out of drunken irresponsibility, all the while in the back of her head knowing very well Natalie didn't drink. She had refused to believe that Natalie was interested in her until now when it all became obvious. "It's all clear to me now..." Juliet said, more to herself than to Peter.  
"Yes, Juliet," Peter said. "Natalie has a thing for you,"  
"She was always hiding it from me, that book. She didn't want me to know that she was..." Juliet's voice trailed off as she looked up at Peter.  
"You slept with her last night, and it takes a book that you find this morning to prove to you that she's in love with you?"  
"What? In love with me? No...Natalie is not in love with me...and I'm not in love with her either, I'm in love with you Peter. You, and only you." Juliet said getting up from the bed. Peter didn't appreciate Juliet lying to him. He knew her better than she knew herself and he thought that she knew by now she could never get a lie past him. She stood by the window and stared outside, it was beginning to rain. Peter's eyes followed her. Juliet looked down, then closed her eyes.  
"It's alright," Peter told her slowly approaching her. "I can accept that you fancy women,"  
"Damn it, Peter would you stop with that?" Juliet said opening her eyes.  
"I can accept it," Peter repeated. There was silence between them and Juliet looked down again.  
"Are you alright?" Peter asked.  
  
"Yes," Juliet answered.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Natalie was inside her house now, staring at the rain just as Juliet had done. Raining, just as it was when Juliet had come to her house that night, dripping wet at the front door. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop thinking about Juliet. Sleep, she thought as she went to her bedroom, would be her escape. She lay back and stared at the ceiling. Images from the previous night flashed before her and she could still hear Juliet's heavy breathing as she pleasured her. Tears stained Natalie's face now and she rolled over with her face in her pillow. Deeply inhaling, she smelled Juliet. She sat up and threw the pillow onto the floor and pulled her other pillow to her face and laid on it but it smelled like Juliet too. She threw it off of the bed and lay on the sheets but everything was covered in Juliet's scent and Natalie couldn't get away from it. 'I hate you Juliet, I hate you,' she thought repeatedly as she got up and got a blanket from her linen closet. She lay down on the couch in the other room and tried to fall asleep. 


	8. She's Yours

Juliet woke up early before Peter did the next morning. Peter had left Natalie's book on the dresser and Juliet decided enough was enough. She'd had her fun with Natalie and now it was time to let everything go and focus on fixing her marriage with Peter. 'And the first thing to do is,' Juliet told herself, 'to return the book to Natalie.' She didn't admit to herself that the reason she wanted to go return the book was to see Natalie. It was 6 in the morning now, too early to go to Natalie's.  
  
"Good morning Peter," Juliet said when Peter entered the kitchen three hours later.  
"You're up rather early Jules," he replied as he fixed himself breakfast.  
"I got a lot of sleep yesterday," she replied.  
"Yes," Peter agreed.  
"I'm going to Natalie's in about an hour," Juliet told him.  
"You are?" Peter said, trying to sound as supportive as possible.  
"Yes, to return the book...and to tell her that it has been great being her friend, but if she can't be just friends, then our friendship is over..." Juliet said, her words surprising both Peter and herself.  
"Oh really?" Peter frowned.  
"Yes, I really do think it was immature of her to slip that book in with my things,"  
"Mmhm..." Peter said as he chewed his cereal, not necessarily agreeing with her.  
  
It was fifteen after ten when Juliet arrived in front of Natalie's flat. She took a deep breath before getting out of her car and knocking on Natalie's door. There was no answer when she did. She knocked again. When no one answered the second time, she looked into the window. Everything in Natalie's flat was gone with the exception of her furniture. A truck moving truck pulled up and two men got out and went up to the door.  
  
"Excuse me," one said as he took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. He and the other man went into the flat. "What is this? What's going on?" Juliet asked, very much confused. "Where's Natalie?" "We know as much as you do ma'am. We're just doing our job," one of the men said. She moved out of the way as they carried a table out of Natalie's flat and to their truck.  
  
Juliet left and cried as she drove back to her flat. 'Natalie's gone now. Isn't that a good thing? Now you can be with Peter with no interruptions and no distractions, that's a great thing,' Juliet thought to herself. She tried to convince herself she was happy that Natalie was gone but couldn't stop her tears from falling. When she got into her flat she went straight to the bedroom. Peter, who had been in the front room, followed her.   
"Jules?" he called after her, "What is it? What happened?"   
"Nothing, Peter don't worry about it," Juliet said when Peter entered the room.   
"But you've been crying. I worry about you when you cry," he told her.   
She forced a smile."Thank you, but I'm fine, you don't need to worry,"  
"What happened with Natalie?" He asked. There was silence. "I'm...okay...with it, if you leave me for her," he said finally.  
Juliet stared at him, frowning. "What? Leave you for her?!"  
"Fucking hell, Juliet would stop lying? What kind of fool do you take me for?" Peter exclaimed. "A man knows when his wife is in love with someone else, and believe me I know that you love Natalie and if you're trying not to hurt me you're doing a very bad job of it. It hurts me the more you lie to me about this. If you're going to leave me, I wish that you would just go ahead and do it because the longer you stay the harder it is for me." Juliet hated when Peter got mad and yelled at her and she started to cry again. "Is this how you really feel?" she asked.  
"It is," he said, more calmly now. "Will you go on and be with her now?"  
Juliet hesitated before answering. "No...I can't. She left. And I don't know where she's gone,"  
"What?"  
"She's gone, Peter. She moved."  
"Gone? She can't be..."  
"But she is," Juliet said. She buried her head in her hands now and Peter came and sat beside her. He rubbed her back and hugged her.  
  
Natalie stood before a flat in Teddington, took a deep breath to compose herself, and then knocked on the door. Her eyes were red and glassy because she'd been up half the night crying and her nose was red. She rubbed her eyes once more so she wouldn't look so disheveled and then the door opened. A tall man, with messy brown hair and warm brown eyes had opened it and gave Natalie a long hug when he saw her. She was crying when they released and he wiped her tears with his rough but gentle fingers and let her into his flat.  
  
"I will find her," Peter told Juliet.  
"What?" Juliet asked looking up.  
"I will find her, she can't have gone far, Mark spoke with her yesterday," Juliet, who had been taking silent refuge in Peter's arms, put her head back onto his chest.  
"You won't find her," she told him.  
"Thinking like that I won't," he told her.  
"She doesn't want to be found. She doesn't want to see me again,"  
"Come on now Jules, she'd have to be crazy not to want to see you. So she isn't at her flat?" Juliet shook her head. "Movers were coming, taking all of her things away," she said.  
"And did you ask them if they knew anything?"  
"Yes. They didn't,"  
  
Later that night after Peter had gotten Natalie's address from Juliet, he went to her flat. Juliet was right, Natalie was gone but Peter was convinced that he would find her. He went to the flat next-door to Natalie's and rang the bell. A blonde woman Peter assumed to be in her late twenties answered the door.  
"Can I help you?" she asked.  
"Yes, your next-door neighbor, Natalie...she moved. Did she tell you where she went?"  
"Who are you?" the woman asked.  
"I'm a friend," Peter told the woman.  
"Natalie hasn't had a male friend in years, tell me who you really are," the woman said suspiciously.  
"So you're a close friend of hers?" Peter gathered.  
"I am," the woman said eyeing him, still very much suspicious.  
"Did she mention someone named Juliet to you?"  
"Yes, why?"  
"Juliet sent me to find out where Natalie went, I assure you ma'am, my intentions are good," Peter said sincerely. The woman paused before she finally told him,   
"I'll get you an address," she went left Peter at the door and returned after a couple of minutes.   
"Here," she said handing him a small piece of paper. "She's staying with her brother in Teddington," she said. Peter asked for directions and the woman wrote them down along with the address that was on the paper, and then Peter drove for half an hour to Teddington. He knocked on the door and the man with the messy brown hair and brown eyes answered.   
"Yes?" he said.   
"I am here to talk to Natalie," Peter said.   
"Is this about a girl named Juliet?"   
"Yes, it is,"  
"Are you that bastard from the gallery who harassed Nat?" The man said  
getting worked up. "Because if you are—"   
"I'm not. I'm Peter, Juliet's husband,"   
"Her husband? So are you here to harass my sister even more?"   
"No, no I'm here to talk to her. Juliet and I are getting a divorce and it's because Juliet is in love with Natalie...I'm here to talk to Natalie about that," Peter told him.   
Natalie's brother looked Peter over once more, sizing him up and deciding whether or not to trust him.   
"I've been looking out for my little sister all my life and I've been making sure bastards like Mr. Art Gallery and yourself don't hurt her,"   
"I understand," Peter said. Natalie's brother sized him up once more before finally deciding that Peter was trustworthy.   
"What's your name?" her brother said.   
"Peter," Peter replied. "Jake." Natalie's brother said, putting out his hand. They shook.   
"Why don't you come in, Peter, I'll get Natalie," Peter followed Jake into his flat and sat on the couch while Jake called for Natalie. She emerged from a bedroom with a sheet around her. Her hair was uncombed and there were dark shadows around her eyes, but despite all of that, she was still beautiful.  
"This is Peter," Jake told her, "Juliet's husband."  
"If you're here to tell me to stay away from Juliet, can't you see it's already been done?" Natalie asked.  
"I'm not here to tell you to stay away from her, I want you to be with her," Peter said.  
"You what?" Natalie asked as if he were crazy, "What kind of a husband are you?"  
"One that apparently, loves his wife more than anything," Jake said.  
"Have coffee with me tonight, coffee shop on Third around eight maybe?" Peter asked.  
"I'll be there," Natalie said, still taken aback and mystified.  
  
When Natalie arrived at the coffee shop Peter was already there, coincidentally sitting at the table Natalie and Juliet always met at, and he was sitting in the same seat Juliet always sat in. She had cleaned herself up and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. She has a stunning appearance, of that Peter was sure but that was not all that mattered to him. When Natalie reached the table they greeted each other. Although she seemed nervous and uncomfortable around Peter, she was still polite.  
"I would first like to apologize for any discomfort my friend Mark may have caused you," Peter began once Natalie had taken her seat, "I assume he's who your brother is referring to when he says you were harassed yesterday," Natalie, who had been avoiding Peter's eyes, finally made eye contact with him.  
"It's alright," she told him. She looked away again and there was an awkward silence.  
"You are probably wondering why I asked you here," Peter started, "I am aware of the situation with you and my wife and I am here to let you know that I'm okay with it, and I'm willing to let her go," "What? Why? You're her husband and you love her." she said. "Exactly," Peter replied, "When you love someone as dearly as I love Juliet, you'll do anything to make them happy," Peter had Natalie's full attention now and she looked at him intently.  
"You, Natalie, make Juliet happy. And I cannot stand between Juliet and her happiness. But before I give my wife to you, I need to know something," Though she didn't respond, Natalie's eyes told Peter she was listening.  
"Do you love her?" Peter asked. Natalie was shaken by the boldness of his question and her mouth fell slightly open. She closed it and looked down before looking at Peter again and finally answering; "Yes,"  
Peter smiled but Natalie could see he was deeply hurt by all of what was going on.  
"It's late, Jake expects me home soon and I've got a ways to go," she said. Peter nodded and they both got up.  
"Let me walk you to your car," he said. As they left the coffee shop Peter had an idea. "Natalie," he said.  
"Yes?"  
"Mark mentioned a Christmas Ball you intended to invite Juliet to, does that invitation still stand?"  
"I—Yes, yes it does, it's on Christmas Eve which is...tomorrow!"  
"Well then, will you meet Juliet and me there?"  
"Yes, tomorrow evening around seven is when it starts. Goes until midnight,"  
"Perfect, so we'll see you there at seven," They had gotten to Natalie's car but she didn't get in immediately. She smiled at Peter.  
"Thank you," she said, hugging him. "Thank you so much,"  
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked once she'd let go.  
"Yes," 


	9. Let The Drinks Talk For You

Peter got home at 12:30 AM and went to the bedroom where Juliet was sleeping. He stood in the doorway staring at her, the light from the hallway behind him casting shadows on her face. 'This is your wife,' he thought, as he took a few steps into the room. 'Juliet is your beautiful wife. But she doesn't want you.' He stepped closer to her close enough to touch her. 'Because she's in love with someone else...' He put his hand gently on her cheek and slowly ran his fingers down her face and over her lips. She sighed but didn't show any other signs of being aware of his presence. He pulled his hand away. He didn't want to give her up and he didn't want her to be with Natalie. He wanted Juliet all for himself but he knew that he shouldn't be so selfish. 'I gave her everything...' he thought, 'and it wasn't good enough.' He never wanted to look at her now and he never wanted to see her again. He stormed out of the bedroom and went into the kitchen. He looked for something to ease his frustration in the refrigerator and decided on a bottle of Chardonnay. He took the wine to the couch and began to drink it. The more he drank the less he thought about Juliet and it made him want to drink more until half the bottle was gone. He was getting tired now but the wine was his way of dealing with his pain so he drank more. After drinking nearly all of it he spotted Juliet standing staring at him from inside the hallway.  
"...Peter...?" she asked once he'd seen her. "Peter it's 3 AM, I woke up and you weren't there, are you alright?" He looked down and didn't answer her. She walked towards him and sat beside him.  
"Okay Peter, let's put the Chardonnay back and go to bed," she said, seeing how much of the bottle was empty and realizing how much he had drank. She slowly reached for the bottle but when she was close enough to take it from him he pushed her hand away and put the bottle to his lips to drink more.  
"Peter, please come to bed," she begged.  
"Don't act like you care now," Peter said.  
"What?"  
"Don't act like you care",  
"But I do care, you're upset you're—"  
"You didn't give a damn about me when you were out fucking your lesbian lover so why do you care now? You bloody slut! Don't sleep around with someone else and then turn around and act like you care about me." Juliet, clearly hurt, stood up.  
"Fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow when you aren't drunk and you actually know what you're saying," she said. And with that she left.  
  
The next day Juliet woke up before Peter did. He woke up on the couch with a terrible headache and didn't remember much from the night before. Juliet was in the kitchen eating breakfast. She ignored him when he went into the kitchen to get a drink to subdue his headache.  
"Good morning," he said. She didn't answer. She gave him a look that let him know she was angry with him and went into the living room and sat on the couch.  
"Jules?" he said following her. "What is it?"  
"Oh so now you don't remember?" She asked, irritated.  
"What happened last night?"  
"You got drunk last night," Juliet said getting up and going into the bedroom.  
"What happened? Did I say anything? Why are you angry?"  
"Why am I angry?" she said turning around and facing him. "You called me a slut for one thing," she said before shutting herself up in the bathroom.  
"Jules, I'm sorry please..." Peter began.  
"I don't want to speak to you right now,"  
"I'll make it up to you darling please..." he continued. She didn't say anything.  
"Well...at least come to the Christmas Ball with me tonight...I've got a very special present for you and I'd like to give it to you there..." Still no answer. 


	10. Reunited

When Juliet had stayed in the bathroom long enough to get her point across to Peter, she finally came out and forgave him. After all the hell she was putting him through, she could understand how Peter would feel the way that he did and she also understood that he wasn't thinking straight when he'd said what he did. He explained the Christmas Ball to her and for a moment Juliet recalled the time she and Natalie had been in the shoe store and Juliet had helped her pick out the shoes for the Christmas Ball Natalie had told her about. 'It couldn't possibly be the same one,' Juliet told herself, 'and even if it was, Natalie wouldn't be there. She moved,'

The Christmas Ball was held in the ballroom of a fancy hotel and everyone there was dressed up in elegant gowns or fancy tuxes and was carrying on high-spirited conversations with each other. Juliet tried to enjoy herself but her mind kept slipping to Natalie and she wondered what might have been different if she hadn't stood her up that day. Peter saw Natalie standing alone against the wall sipping punch by the punch bowl.  
"Are you thirsty?" he asked.  
"No," Juliet replied as she surveyed the area. There were ice sculptures scattered throughout the ballroom and everyone was wearing expensive jewelry. She immediately thought of her bracelet. Peter had it last but she didn't know what he had done with it and she wanted it back now.  
"I am, come get punch with me," Peter said. Juliet agreed and the two made their way to the punch bowl. When they got there Natalie was gone. Peter looked around for her as he got his punch and once he saw where Natalie had gone, he and Juliet walked towards her. Natalie saw Peter and Juliet and Peter stopped. Juliet had her back to where Natalie was standing and Peter nodded slightly to let Natalie know it was okay for her to come over to them.  
"You can have your present now," Peter said handing her a gold box with a red ribbon around it that he had been carrying. She smiled when he gave it to her but he knew it wasn't a real smile and he knew she wasn't happy.  
"Don't open it now," he told her, "open it once I leave." She wondered what he meant by 'once I leave' because she didn't know where he planned on going.  
"Turn around," he said.  
"What?"  
"Turn around," Juliet did as she was told and turned to see Natalie behind her. She was wearing a tight-fitting white dress and a pearl necklace. Her hair was up in a graceful bun and she looked gorgeous.  
"Juliet," Natalie said smiling, "it's nice to see you here, Peter, you as well," Peter smiled too. "Yes, it's very nice seeing you here too Natalie. If you two don't mind I need to take a trip to the washroom..." he said.  
"Go ahead..." Juliet said sounding a bit mystified, beginning to think he and Natalie had planned this.  
"I see you've already gotten a gift," Natalie said once Peter had gone. Juliet saw that he hadn't gone to the men's room he'd gone outside.  
"Yes, it's from Peter he told me not to open it until..." Juliet began realizing now that they had definitely planned this, "...until he left..." she finished.  
"So open it," Natalie said simply. Juliet took the red ribbon off of the box and opened it to see the bracelet sitting on top of an envelope. Natalie held the box while Juliet opened the envelope. Her mouth opened slightly when she saw what was inside.  
"He wants a divorce," she managed to say once she had overcome her shock. She frowned and looked at Natalie, her eyes becoming red.  
"He's divorcing me..." she repeated. "Excuse me," she said as she turned to go outside to where she'd seen Peter go. Natalie followed her and when they'd gotten outside it was raining. Juliet stood in the rain and looked for Peter but he was gone. After she'd given up looking for him she leaned up against the wall of the hotel and cried. She didn't care that her dress was getting soaked and she didn't care that her makeup was being smeared by the rain and by her tears. Natalie stood watching her; she too getting drenched by the rain. She went over to Juliet who had her head down, and put her hand underneath her chin and gently pushed her head up so that Juliet was looking at her.  
"Peter and I had coffee together last night," Natalie began. Juliet didn't answer but Natalie continued. "He told me that you were in love with me...and that I made you happy...and he told me that he wanted us to be together because he loves you and he wants you to be happy," Juliet looked down again and didn't answer. "Is it true? Do you love me? Because..." Natalie paused before finally saying what she knew she needed to say, "I love you too Juliet," Juliet didn't say anything but then she smiled and started to laugh a little.  
"What? Why are you laughing?" Natalie asked.  
"I..." Juliet began laughing a little more now, "I can see through your dress," she said finally. Natalie's eyes got wide and she looked down. Juliet was right. Natalie laughed too.  
"I feel like I've had this happen to me before," Natalie said.  
"Yes, me too..."  
"But it's slipped my mind what happens next,"  
"Shall I remind you?" Natalie smiled and Juliet put her arms around Natalie's neck and kissed her. It was blissful to finally be in each other's arms again and to feel their lips touch.  
"Come inside," Natalie said once they'd stopped, "I want you to dance with me."

* * *

_That's all of Part 1. The story continues atww w . b r o k e n . r 8 . o rgif you're interested._


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